ECON Report food and grocery price increases/shortages here - UPDATE, new runs on the stores

[Jubilee on Earth]

SW Missouri area here. For the first time since March I stepped into a Walmart today to do some shopping. What a surreal experience.

Roughly 30% of the customers wore masks. All of the workers wore masks. The auto centers are all closed here in our state, which doesn’t make much sense. All the aisles were labeled with directions, but most people weren’t following them. The toiletries section seemed pretty well stocked. Plenty of hand sanitizer, although no Purell. Strange off brands. Still, at first glance I thought things were quite back to normal.

But then I headed over to grocery. Two things I noticed right away:

1) There were still huge gaping holes down most of the aisles. Most noticeable in canned goods. Snacks, breads, dairy, and even meat seemed about 75% stocked. But I had very little luck getting the canned goods on my list (tuna, corned beef hash, cream of mushroom soup, canned beans, canned corn, canned pineapple, etc.)

2) The other thing I noticed was there were very few brand names in the perishable foods. No Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but there were plenty of Walmart’s Great Value brand. Same with shredded cheese and sliced cheese. No Pillsbury biscuits. No Lender’s bagels. It was tough to find brand names anywhere. I normally wouldn’t care, but I had coupons I’d planned on using. It was a strange thing.

 

[rafter]

Love this thread and have been following it from it's beginning, thanks to everybody for contributing. It's been most valuable to me for getting ahead of the shortages.

Was in need of straw for the garden so yesterday I went to rural king (central Ohio). We are new to this area and I was already making a grocery run, we always try to combine trips to town and RK was close.

Ten dollars for a bale of straw! This was my first time buying straw from them and it will be the last!

Straw prices are insane. I started using stall bedding wood shavings I get from Tractor Supply. If on sale 2 for $10, if not then $5.99 each. Plus is no seed in it for weeds.

 

[mikeabn]

Our local Acme supermarket has buy one get two free on ribs, small steaks and cereal. First time in a couple of months.

 

[Dozdoats]

Put in my usual case lot order at the local grocery last week. Delivery truck came today -I got nothing. First time since I started I have struck out on everything. It's been hit or miss for the store, too.

 

[coloradohermit]

Just made a run to the local small town Kroger. It looked well stocked everywhere. Meat seemed well stocked. I wasn't looking for any so didn't notice prices, except that the store brand 80/20 ground beef was "on sale" for $3.99(down from $5.99 last week) so I got one. Can't have too much hamburger. the only thing on my list that was out of stock was the Delimex beef and cheese frozen taquitos and I can live without those.

 

[TxGal]

Did a grocery store run to the HEB down in Huntsville, TX. They've been well-stocked for a while now, really love this store. Today, though, a bit different. The frozen food aisle had been hit pretty hard, big holes in frozen vegetables and very low on a number of frozen meals such as Stouffer's. Fresh vegetables were plentiful, and the meat areas were well-stocked. I didn't spend time in the canned goods or pasta/flour/etc. aisles. I had a list, stuck to it, and got moving on out of there.

Also stopped at the Tractor Supply, they were out of corn and scratch grains....haven't seen that in a while, either.

The region has seen a significant uptick in Covid cases, and the hospitals are having a lot more cases, even in the ICUs. This is a good heads-up that if you start to see cases rise again in your area, double-check your pantry levels and be sure to stay ahead of shortages, just in case. This could be nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden rise of cases over the last few weeks....or not. Either way, going back to those recent times when stores were out of a lot just isn't good.

 

[Digger]

We have only been able to find one refill pack for our fly traps. I need several more. I checked 4 feed type stores when we went for other items.

Atwoods had very little cast iron pans, ammo, and no vacuum sealer bags. They did have freezer paper.

I am seeing a few empty spaces at the grocery store, but nothing like before.

 

[Jubilee on Earth]

I stopped into our local small town grocery store. They were well stocked with only a few holes. It looked almost normal. The cashier said that ground hamburger is now back to $3.99 a lb from a high of $8.99 a lb a few weeks ago.

My advice is to not be complacent. Use this time wisely and take advantage of the plentiful shelves. While others are relaxing and feeling better about the situation, get out there and load up. Between the obvious increase in COVID to the upcoming Nov elections, you don’t want to have any gaps in your preps when summer ends.

 

[20Gauge]

I went shopping yesterday for the first time in a while. The wife does it as I have no patience to do so. It is not the wife as she is organized and efficient, but rather the masses of people who drive me nuts.

Back to the story......

I am still seeing lots and I mean lots of items that are out of stock or once in stock, don't last long. I am still seeing people walk out of the Sams with 4-6 cases of water at a time. This is not normal.

Prices overall are on the increase also. They didn't go up a lot, but I am seeing about 5% increases over the last time I shopped with the wife. I did some checking on line and it seems hit and miss where prices are either pretty much normal or double what they used to be. Keystone meats is an example.

This overall situation makes no sense but can only mean one of two things.

a) We are beginning to see stagflation and it is now here to stay.

b) The covid thing killed a lot more industry than we realize and they are no longer able to produce what they could before.

 

[jazzy]

id buy cans of keystone meats from time to time, usually a 14oz chicken or turkey or port ran around $4.99 and the 28oz ran around $6.99-8.99. now, IF you can find them, prices got crazy. you can still get the chicken but 28oz of beef is $27.99, a 3 pack of 28oz chicken is $30, a 28oz can of turkey is $18.58. cant find pork anymore and rarely can find the 14oz cans. walmart had the chicken 28oz for $6-8 depending but i think they are out of stock.

i think were gonna have more meat problems later this year. and canned greenbeans and peaches are getting real pricey.

id like to put the masks on and go in to walmart, but HWMBO refuses so we still do the walmart grocery curbside pickup. thats ok, im just curious.

20gage i think you are right, alot more industry has been hurt, animals slaughtered and dumped, crops turned over no one to pick or cant get them to processors. were very concerned about prices this fall / winter.

 

[urthmom]

Small town WC Ohio - Aldi in the next town looked fully stocked, including meat. Did not look for limits signs on canned goods as fresh produce, dairy, bread, Aisle of Shame and meat made up my list.

 

[WalknTrot]

One thing should be quite plain. After the past few months we should all have a pretty good handle on what disappears from the stores, what disappears from our pantries, what our house craves for comfort food, how long various pantry items in the house last before they need to be re-stocked.

As it seems the stores are catching up now, it's time to start putting the essential shelf-stable items away again. I'm thinking canned veg, soup, beans, dry pasta, pasta sauce and mixes, canned meat, peanut butter and jam, syrup, honey, instant potatoes and gravy, baking mixes, and of course, flour, yeast, sugar, coffee, drink mixes. Don't forget household cleaning stuff and paper goods.

We could be looking at a damned miserable winter.
Me? Haha! MORE mushy peas (canned peas...I seem to use them in EVERYTHING!) More canned milk. More of favorite teas.

 

[tiredude]

No trouble in my neck of the woods.....(I travel the SE USA). Toilet paper is short in supply but available. One weird thing I have noticed....… there is NO distilled water to be had anywhere I have travelled. Makes me question why...??

 

[20Gauge]

id buy cans of keystone meats from time to time, usually a 14oz chicken or turkey or port ran around $4.99 and the 28oz ran around $6.99-8.99. now, IF you can find them, prices got crazy. you can still get the chicken but 28oz of beef is $27.99, a 3 pack of 28oz chicken is $30, a 28oz can of turkey is $18.58. cant find pork anymore and rarely can find the 14oz cans. walmart had the chicken 28oz for $6-8 depending but i think they are out of stock.

i think were gonna have more meat problems later this year. and canned greenbeans and peaches are getting real pricey.

id like to put the masks on and go in to walmart, but HWMBO refuses so we still do the walmart grocery curbside pickup. thats ok, im just curious.

20gage i think you are right, alot more industry has been hurt, animals slaughtered and dumped, crops turned over no one to pick or cant get them to processors. were very concerned about prices this fall / winter.

I have no idea if I am right or wrong. I am simply expressing what I have seen and extrapolate from there. Heck even my mother has noticed the price increases. She generally is immune from seeing them for some reason.

I do, on the other hand, hope that I am very wrong. For IF I am right, we are going to have an even worse fall than I originally expected.

 

[20Gauge]

One thing should be quite plain. After the past few months we should all have a pretty good handle on what disappears from the stores, what disappears from our pantries, what our house craves for comfort food, how long various pantry items in the house last before they need to be re-stocked.

As it seems the stores are catching up now, it's time to start putting the essential shelf-stable items away again. I'm thinking canned veg, soup, beans, dry pasta, pasta sauce and mixes, canned meat, peanut butter and jam, syrup, honey, instant potatoes and gravy, baking mixes, and of course, flour, yeast, sugar, coffee, drink mixes. Don't forget household cleaning stuff and paper goods.

We could be looking at a damned miserable winter.
Me? Haha! MORE mushy peas (canned peas...I seem to use them in EVERYTHING!) More canned milk. More of favorite teas.

That is the thing. I thought I had a handle on shelf stable items and what not that can go missing during such times. I was or at least it appears I was wrong. New things are going missing all the time. I am to the point where I would say everything and anything you can imagine is subject to being not there in a time of needs.

 

[20Gauge]

No trouble in my neck of the woods.....(I travel the SE USA). Toilet paper is short in supply but available. One weird thing I have noticed....… there is NO distilled water to be had anywhere I have travelled. Makes me question why...??

That is my point. Strange things are going missing. Why in the world would distilled water go missing. We are one of the few nations that has nearly unlimited water, the energy to process it and the infrastructure to ship it. There is not reason for such an item to go missing.

Unless the mfg of such items are no longer in business.

 

[Digger]

Distilled water is used in C-pap machines. Maybe folks are stocking up. But I have found those water jugs developed leaks often.

 

[coloradohermit]

An interesting note.... For years I volunteered at the local emergency food pantry. The local grocery stores would donate their soon to expire and cosmetically imperfect nonperishable goods and produce.Eventually they also started to donate their soon to expire meats. If the meats didn't sell in the reduced for quick clearinace the day before the best by date, they'd put it in the freezer that night and the pantry would pick it up frozen the next day. In the beginning, the donated stuff was mostly cheap stuff like stew meat and the greasiest ground beef, while customers were buying the better meats which were somewhat reasonably priced. As prices started going up, people went back to buying the cheaper stuff and the unsold donated stuff was the ridiculously priced stuff like a $50 package of ribeye steaks. Damn the clients ate well.

When the virus shortages started, the meat at the store was spaced out so as not to look so sparse. One of the space fillers, which took up a lot of area, was the plant-based fake meats. It was fairly expensive. Friends who are sometimes clients at the emergency food pantry went this week and they told me that the meat in their order was that plant-based fake ground meat. So it appears that it's not selling very well- either too expensive or just too weird.

 

[joannita]

Distilled water is used in C-pap machines. Maybe folks are stocking up. But I have found those water jugs developed leaks often.

Our Local Dollar General carries them and the bottles are very sturdy.

 

[raven]

might want to start a new thread with a title like
"Stores with shelves filled with plastic bins/missing product/doubled up product"
for example:
Went to DG today. First thing I noticed was pet aisle. Dog food on the right, cat food on the left but halfway down the aisle Sterrite Bins. That seemed a little odd. Went to another aisle and right where food product should be another group of Sterrite bins. And then in another aisle.

Then we go to get soda, cola, whatever you call it. It is always on one long aisle. But not today. Two aisles that were not even close to each other.

Missing product all over the store.

But it was the plastic bins that really got my attention. They are just space fillers because they do not intend on filling those shelves any time soon

 

[rafter]

Friend messaged me in a tizzy. They have a hog ready to butcher and the 2 places they called had no openings till way into next summer 2021. Shocker! Explained again why and suggested she try an Amish. She was ranting at both places telling them they need more people and a second shift.

 

[greysage]

Been craving bologna sandwiches lately. Haven't really eaten it since I was a boy. Got a pack a couple weeks ago. Then couldn't get any until today.
Got 2 one pound packs of Oscar Mayer Beef Bologna with my instacart order today. Received everything else in the order too, and quickly.
Locals are still looking for Formula 409 on the pages though.
Family member needed deck railing sections. Nothing available in three Vt. stores (out of stock) close to them. Had to drive to NY state to get them.

 

[summerthyme]

Friend messaged me in a tizzy. They have a hog ready to butcher and the 2 places they called had no openings till way into next summer 2021. Shocker! Explained again why and suggested she try an Amish. She was ranting at both places telling them they need more people and a second shift.

Hmmm.... utterly clueless or just normalcy bias? (I'm thinking the first, if she understands so little about the butchering process and logistics she thinks adding a second shift at a small local butchering shop would even be possible! They're generally limited by cooler space, freezer space and pen space.

We picked up a cow today at our shop... he's gone from a max of 5 cows and 6 hogs per week to 10 cows and 15 hogs, and says that's absolutely all they can handle. And that's an absolutely unheard of demand in June... summer is their light time, with a spike in July and August for the fair and 4-H animals... all of which are cancelled this year.

He did say things are quieting down... he was getting up to 30 calls A DAY!!, and is now gettibgb2 or 3 every other day, inquiring about scheduling (he's full until February)

I told him it likely would ramp back up this fall. He didn't look impressed!

Summerthyme

 

[rafter]

Hmmm.... utterly clueless or just normalcy bias? (I'm thinking the first, if she understands so little about the butchering process and logistics she thinks adding a second shift at a small local butchering shop would even be possible! They're generally limited by cooler space, freezer space and pen space.

We picked up a cow today at our shop... he's gone from a max of 5 cows and 6 hogs per week to 10 cows and 15 hogs, and says that's absolutely all they can handle. And that's an absolutely unheard of demand in June... summer is their light time, with a spike in July and August for the fair and 4-H animals... all of which are cancelled this year.

He did say things are quieting down... he was getting up to 30 calls A DAY!!, and is now gettibgb2 or 3 every other day, inquiring about scheduling (he's full until February)

I told him it likely would ramp back up this fall. He didn't look impressed!

Summerthyme

I told her it was that way all over the US and it didn’t sink in till I said the only person I had heard of that got it done quickly was on here and in Tucson. Then she got quiet. The lightbulb must of switched on.

 

[joekan]

might want to start a new thread with a title like
"Stores with shelves filled with plastic bins/missing product/doubled up product"
for example:
Went to DG today. First thing I noticed was pet aisle. Dog food on the right, cat food on the left but halfway down the aisle Sterrite Bins. That seemed a little odd. Went to another aisle and right where food product should be another group of Sterrite bins. And then in another aisle.

Then we go to get soda, cola, whatever you call it. It is always on one long aisle. But not today. Two aisles that were not even close to each other.

Missing product all over the store.

But it was the plastic bins that really got my attention. They are just space fillers because they do not intend on filling those shelves any time soon

I noticed Home Depot is doing the same thing. I thought that was strange they would use a lot of their space for bins but I think you're right about all this.

 

[WalknTrot]

Friend messaged me in a tizzy. They have a hog ready to butcher and the 2 places they called had no openings till way into next summer 2021. Shocker! Explained again why and suggested she try an Amish. She was ranting at both places telling them they need more people and a second shift.

Yup. We've been talking about this for months here.

 

[colonel holman]

went to WM today to buy a printer (only source for 50 miles). Bought the one and only one they had, and told they had no prospects for any coming in. Supply chain still broken

 

[Copperhead Road]

Distilled. Water also used to make colloidal silver as well as c pap machines. Still no idea of why shortages..?

 

[packyderms_wife]

Not food related, but I was at Michaels in Ankeny Iowa, this afternoon and WOW talk about a supply line issue, the place looks like it's a week from closing it's doors! And that's not the case they're just having issues getting their chinamart supplies in house. The paint and jewelry making aisles were fine, everything else was a real hit or miss, especially kids crafts supplies. I'm guessing a lot of families are doing "camp" at home this summer.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Distilled. Water also used to make colloidal silver as well as c pap machines. Still no idea of why shortages..?

Thanks for the heads up I'll send OC to the store for a couple of more bottles.

 

[TxGal]

Well, it does look like things are starting to tighten up again, sigh. Down in San Antonio (Bexar County), today's virus count is a whopping 795 new cases...just wow. And the purchasing limits are starting to come back:

H-E-B limits toilet paper, paper towels as COVID-19 cases rise in San Antonio

H-E-B has placed purchasing limits on toilet paper and paper towels again, as more COVID-19 cases arise in San Antonio.

www.ksat.com

Cody King, Digital Journalist
Published: June 27, 2020, 4:22 pm
Tags: H-E-B, Covid-19, Coronavirus, San Antonio

H-E-B limits toilet paper, paper towels as COVID-19 cases rise in San Antonio
Each customer is limited to two packages of each, according to H-E-B officials

SAN ANTONIO – H-E-B has placed purchasing limits on toilet paper and paper towels again, as more COVID-19 cases arise in San Antonio.

The city has seen a significant uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over the course of the last two weeks. Bexar County has 8,857 cases to date and the death toll resides at 105.

According to H-E-B’s website, each customer is limited to two bath tissue multipacks, two bath tissue singles, and two rolls of paper towels.

The grocery chain announced last month they were limiting brisket purchases to one per customer as well. However, that limit now allows two brisket products per customer, according to H-E-B’s website.

The full list of H-E-B’s product limits are listed below:

Food items (all H-E-B stores)

• Brisket – Limit 2

Non-food items (all H-E-B stores)

• Bath Tissue Multipack – Limit 2
• Bath tissue singles – Limit 2
• Paper towels – Limit 2
• Acetaminophen – Limit 2 items total (includes baby, trial and travel sizes, OTC)
• H-E-B Acid Controller/Famotidine and Pepcid 50ct and larger – Limit 1
• H-E-B Acid Controller/Famotidine and Pepcid smaller than 50ct – Limit 2
• Disinfecting & antibacterial sprays – Limit 2
• Disinfecting & antibacterial wipes – Limit 2
• Trial and travel size disinfecting & antibacterial sprays/wipes – Limit 2
• Hand sanitizer – Limit 10
• Hand soap – Limit 4
• Hydrogen peroxide – Limit 2
• Rubbing (Isopropyl) Alcohol/swabs – Limit 2
• First Aid and Cleaning Gloves – Limit 2

The following product limits only apply to H-E-B stores in the Border Region:

• Baby wipes – Limit 2
• Eggs, less than 30 count – Limit 4
• Eggs, 30 count or greater – Limit 2

--------------------------------------------------------

ETA: I just read online that their new cases in SA yesterday were 405. Just wow.

 

[Dennis Olson]

I just got back from my local HEB. The TP is once again decimated, along with most paper towels. Everything else was normal. (The Governor here in Texas recently halted the reopening, and people are spooked.)

 

[TxGal]

I just got back from my local HEB. The TP is once again decimated, along with most paper towels. Everything else was normal. (The Governor here in Texas recently halted the reopening, and people are spooked.)

Wow, Travis County's new case number today was 728. Just wow. Buckle up, here we go again with hit and miss shopping. Darn good thing you were able to get your new freezer!

 

[Marseydoats]

What I need --- that I can't find anywhere, is some roll gauze and cotton. Folks with livestock will understand what I mean. They used to come on a big roll that was like 10 inches long, and you just cut off what you needed. I think that last roll of cotton I had lasted like 20 years. I ordered some from Walmart but what I got was not what they described, at most it would barely have wrapped a kid's forearm, certainly not a horse leg.

 

[Michiana MaJo]

Try a drugstore....l saw some at Rite Aid, yesterday

 

[summerthyme]

What I need --- that I can't find anywhere, is some roll gauze and cotton. Folks with livestock will understand what I mean. They used to come on a big roll that was like 10 inches long, and you just cut off what you needed. I think that last roll of cotton I had lasted like 20 years. I ordered some from Walmart but what I got was not what they described, at most it would barely have wrapped a kid's forearm, certainly not a horse leg.

Search Results | Jeffers Pet

www.jefferspet.com

Summerthyme

 

[psychgirl]

Went to Kroger yesterday, central Indiana. North of Indy.

Most shelves were normal except for toilet paper and paper towels, again, only a couple of brands were available and not many rolls of each brand. Time to restock!!!

Meat isn’t bad but the prices are high, beef still really high (or more than I can pay, at least!)
Not many good sales are being advertised, yet, which is usually the norm around the 4th for people grilling out.

There aren’t any sales for pork either, except maybe for ribs. Bone in pork chops are very high. Bacon is still high.



Frozen veggies wiped out again. The only thing left are bags of broccoli and corn.

They did have alcohol, peroxide, and bleach again though! I need to add more of those to my stash, so that’s next on my list as well as OTC meds.

Bottled water is fine.
Milk and cheese is normal.
Baking aisle looked to be fine.

Just my first impressions because I wasn’t really looking for anything else.

 

[Marseydoats]

Search Results | Jeffers Pet

www.jefferspet.com

Summerthyme

Thanks, but they don't have it. They USED to carry it, but not anymore.
Local drug stores here don't have anything similar to what I need either.

 

[summerthyme]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're looking for, but they have the cotton roll in stock...

100% Cotton Roll by Dukal Corp, 1 lb - Jeffers Pet | Pet Supplies, Horse Supplies, Farm Supplies & Pharmacy

Made of 100% bleached cotton. Easy to unwind, and packed in a resealable draw string bag for easy use.

www.jefferspet.com

Summerthyme

 

[psychgirl]

What I need --- that I can't find anywhere, is some roll gauze and cotton. Folks with livestock will understand what I mean. They used to come on a big roll that was like 10 inches long, and you just cut off what you needed. I think that last roll of cotton I had lasted like 20 years. I ordered some from Walmart but what I got was not what they described, at most it would barely have wrapped a kid's forearm, certainly not a horse leg.

Not even veterinary suppliers have it?
May be ask a local vet and see if they can order it for you(?) ....just an idea, if nothing else works.